Dental implants typically are packaged and shipped as a component of an implant delivery system. The delivery system generally includes a vial containing an implant, such as a threaded implant, a driver mount, a healing screw and a vial cap. Sometimes, the dental implant is removably connected to the vial cap to facilitate removal from the vial prior to implantation.
The dental implant, driver mount and healing screw must be maintained in a sterile environment prior to implantation. Accordingly, the dental implant components are shipped in sterile packaging that may be opened during a surgical implantation procedure.
To install or implant the dental implant, an implant site is prepared using conventional surgical methodology. For example, an incision is made along the gingival tissue at the implant site. Then, a cylindrical bore is drilled into the alveolar bone, and the bore is tapped to receive a conventional threaded implant or left untapped for receipt of a self-tapping implant.
After the implant site is prepared, the vial cap and vial are separated to permit removal of the dental implant, driver mount and healing screw. At this point, a driving tool, such as a motorized dental hand-piece, is connected to the free end of the driver mount via an adapter. The dental implant and driver mount are moved to the implant site, and the end of the implant is driven into the cylindrical bore formed in the alveolar bone.
Following placement of the dental implant in the bore, the driver mount must be removed from the implant, and the healing screw is then threaded into the coronal end of the implant. It should be noted that in some delivery systems, the healing screw is used to maintain the driver mount in engagement with the dental implant. In this latter system, the healing screw must be removed to permit removal of the driver mount and then rethreaded into the coronal end of the implant.
Following placement of the healing screw, the gingival tissue is sutured to cover the dental implant. The implant remains implanted in the jawbone for several months to permit osseointegration and healing to occur. During a second surgical procedure, the implant is reexposed and the healing screw is removed. An abutment is affixed to the top of the implant, and a dental prosthesis is attached to the abutment.
During placement of the dental implant, it is extremely advantageous to reduce the number of steps required and the number of components handled. Therefore, it would be desirable to eliminate use of the driver mount and to eliminate the removal, placement and threading of the healing screw into the coronal end of the implant prior to suturing of the gingival tissue to cover the dental implant.
Attempts have been made to integrate a healing cap or cover with the dental implant prior to implantation to simplify the implantation procedure. However, it has proved difficult to securely attach the healing cap in a manner that permits a dental driving tool to engage either the dental implant itself or the healing cap for driving the implant into the implant site. Providing a preattached healing cap is particularly difficult when the dental implant includes mounting protrusions, such as splines, at its coronal end.
Furthermore, a typical dental implant includes an axial, threaded bore at its mounting end to facilitate secure mounting of the abutment and prosthesis. Conventional healing screws are threaded into this bore during the period of osseointegration. A threaded engagement with a complete healing cap having dental tool driving features, however, also requires rotational motion which can be problematic. The splines or protrusions can hinder the rotational motion required to seat the healing cap.
It would be advantageous to have a healing cap that could be preattached to a dental implant in a secure fashion to permit it to be directly engaged by a dental driving tool. Such a system would dramatically simplify the implantation of the dental implant by effectively allowing the implantation to be performed in a single step. Upon engagement of such a healing cap with a dental driving tool, the practitioner would simply thread the dental implant into place at the implant site. No other steps would be required, with respect to the dental implant, because the healing cap already would be in place and ready for covering by the gingival tissue during the period of osseointegration.
The present invention addresses the drawbacks of the prior art, and provides the desired solution described in the paragraph above.